1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for mounting an ink cartridge to a mounting portion of an inkjet printer, and to inkjet printers.
2. Description of Related Art
In a known inkjet printer, a recording head is mounted on a carriage and an ink cartridge is configured to be removably mounted to the carriage. The carriage includes an ink supply needle communicating with the recording head, and an air intake needle communicating with the atmosphere. When the ink cartridge is mounted to the carriage, the ink supply needle and the air intake needle are in fluid communication with the interior of the ink cartridge, and the ink supply needle supplies ink from within the ink cartridge to the recording head.
In another known inkjet printer, a recording head and a tank are mounted on a carriage. When an ink cartridge is mounted to a mounting portion provided in the inkjet printer, ink within the ink cartridge is supplied to and temporarily stored within the ink tank, and from there, the ink is supplied to the recording head.
Nevertheless, when the pressure in the interior of an ink cartridge is greater than the outside atmospheric pressure, the pressure difference therebetween may cause ink to leak from the nozzles of a recording head. The ink may leak from the nozzles at the time when an ink cartridge is mounted to the mounting portion of an inkjet printer for the first time, or when a depleted ink cartridge is replaced with a new ink cartridge. Moreover, if the pressure in the interior of the ink cartridge is less than the outside atmospheric pressure, the pressure difference may cause air to flow into the recording head from the nozzles. The air flowing into the recording head may cause malfunctions in printer operation, such as printing failure.
Yet another known inkjet printer addresses this problem by providing fluid communication between the air intake needle and the interior of the ink cartridge, thereby equalizing the pressure in the interior of the ink cartridge with the atmospheric pressure before the ink supply needle is in fluid communication with the interior of the ink cartridge. Nevertheless, in this known inkjet printer, when an ink cartridge is mounted to a mounting portion of an inkjet printer for the first time, or when a depleted ink cartridge is replaced with a new ink cartridge, air may be trapped in an ink supply path between the ink cartridge and a portion of the printer, e.g., the recording head. The trapped air initially may enter the ink supply path when the ink cartridge is not mounted to the mounting portion.
In still another known inkjet printer, air also may be trapped between an ink supply tube of the mounting portion and a valve member of the ink cartridge when the ink supply tube contacts and applies a pressure to the valve member. The trapped air may cause malfunctions in printer operation, such as printer failure. Although the trapped air may be removed by drawing ink from the recording head through the nozzles, this procedure may waste a large amount of ink, thus decreasing ink cartridge life.
In a known ink cartridge and mounting portion, an air intake tube first penetrates through an air intake hole, and then an ink supply tube penetrates through an ink supply hole. Alternatively, an air intake tube penetrates through an air intake hole at the same time that an ink supply tube penetrates through an ink supply hole. In these cases, because the interior of ink chamber is depressurized, air enters the interior of the ink chamber rapidly through the air intake tube as the pressure of the interior of the ink chamber rises to meet the outside atmospheric pressure. As a result, air may remain trapped at an end of ink supply tube, or at a position adjacent to the end of ink supply tube.